The present invention relates generally to the implant of prosthetic joints and pertains, more specifically, to the preparation of the distal femur for the implant of a femoral knee prosthesis, utilizing a femoral guide, such as a femoral sizing guide for the subsequent location of a femoral cutting guide, to assist in establishing the surfaces necessary for locating and securing the prosthesis in place on the femur. More particularly, the invention relates to an instrument that allows the assessment of the balance of the knee ligaments by using a trial femoral condylar portion having a constant radius and an internal/external rotation adjustment mechanism as well as an anterior-posterior adjustment mechanism.
The implant of a prosthetic knee joint requires that the distal femur be prepared to receive the femoral component of the knee prosthesis by cutting the bone of the femur to establish accurately located surfaces against which the femoral knee prosthesis will rest upon implantation of the femoral component. Various guides are available to the surgeon for assisting in guiding a saw blade during use of the saw blade to make the femoral cuts which establish the desired surfaces. These guides usually are located and secured on the distal femur, often upon a transverse surface established initially at the distal femur, to provide guide surfaces for guiding the saw blade during the execution of an axially directed anterior femoral cut, an axially directed posterior femoral cut, an anterior chamfer and a posterior chamfer, all specifically related to the size of the femoral knee prosthesis to be implanted and to the position and orientation of the femoral knee prosthesis at the site of the implant. The appropriate location of a femoral cutting guide, then, generally requires the use of a femoral sizing guide to determine the size of the femoral knee prosthesis which will be implanted at an implant site in a particular recipient, and to locate the corresponding femoral cutting guide appropriately on the transverse distal femoral surface for proper placement of the femoral knee prosthesis upon implant at the implant site.
Femoral knee prostheses are made available in a range of standard sizes. A femoral sizing guide is used to assist in the selection of a standard size femoral knee prosthesis which will best fit the requirements of a particular implant site. Once selected, the femoral knee prosthesis must be located and oriented so as to attain appropriate rotational alignment and create a symmetric flexion gap.
The femoral component is typically a metallic alloy construction (e.g., cobalt-chrome alloy or 6A4V titanium alloy) and provides medial and lateral condylar bearing surfaces of multi-radii or constant radius design of similar shape and geometry as the natural distal femur.
One important aspect of the known component implantation procedures is the correct resection of the distal femur and proximal tibia. These resections must provide planes which are correctly oriented in order to properly accept the prosthetic components. Among the factors that are considered when assessing resection of the distal femur and proximal tibia are the proximal-distal location of the resection planes, the varus-valgus angle of the planes, and the change in relative orientation of the planes in response to change in flexion-extension angle of the knee.
Moreover, following distal resection the femur is shaped with the aid of a cutting block. To ensure correct shaping of the femur, the cutting block must be correctly positioned and sized. More specifically, the cutting block must be correctly positioned with respect to the anterior-posterior direction and must be correctly rotated about an axis perpendicular to the distal resection plane such that the block's rotation corresponds to the correct Internal/External (I/E) rotation of the femur relative to the tibia. The I/E rotation may be set in a number of ways. One way of setting I/E rotation is by referencing the angle formed between the cutting block's medial-lateral axis as projected onto the distal resection plane and the knee's posterior condylar axis as projected onto the distal resection plane. In a typical case, the angle formed between the cutting block's medial-lateral axis as projected onto the distal resection plane and the knee's posterior condylar axis as projected onto the distal resection plane is set to approximately 3 degrees and matches the angle formed between the epicondylar axis as projected onto the distal resection plane and the posterior condylar axis as projected onto the distal resection plane.
In addition, the cutting block should be correctly positioned with respect to the medial-lateral direction. However, medial-lateral positioning of the block is not as critical to the femur shaping procedure and, as such, does not require the same degree of precision as exercised during anterior-posterior positioning of the block and I/E rotation of the block.
A typical cutting block includes two or more fixation pegs, or “pins” that are used for positioning the block on the distal resection plane and securing the block to the plane. In practice, the block to be used is known and thus the positions of the pins within the block are known. Therefore, one can set the block's position in space by setting the pins' position in space. Accordingly, to position the block on the distal plane the appropriate pin positions are determined, pinholes are drilled at the determined positions, the pins in the block are lined up with the pinholes, and the pins are inserted into the pinholes to secure the block to the femur.
In many cases, the appropriate cutting block and the correct pinhole positions are determined using an instrument referred to as an “Anterior-Posterior Sizer” (or “AP Sizer”). The Sizer is designed to determine the appropriate cutting block and correct pinhole positions based on the type and size of femoral component that will be implanted. For example, the implant could be from the line of implants associated with the Stryker® Triathlon® Knee System which includes femoral implants of sizes 1-8. In such context, the AP Sizer will determine the size of Triathlon® implant that is needed and will indicate where the pinholes should be located for a cutting block corresponding to the Triathlon® implant of the determined size.